He is Risen Indeed!

We celebrated Easter this year in Lafayette.  Anna had a lovely handmade dress from her Grammie with a matching bow and reversible purse!  She was pretty impressed with it as you can see by her admiration in the mirror. :)

 She went as far as kissing the mirror!

 Curtis had the opportunity to preach for Easter, which was pretty special.  After an encouraging worship service at Two Cities Church, we were invited by a sweet family in the church for lunch.  It was really fun!  Here's a family shot that we took in our Easter attire - we didn't plan to match so well.

 Anna enjoyed the outdoors.

 She got sick of her bow eventually.

 She loves to share with us!  Here she is offering her purse to me while I take her picture.

It was nice for Anna to be more aware this year for Easter.   I think she had a great time!

New Decade for Curtis

Yes, it's true.  My husband and I are in different decades for 7.5 months.  Even so, he still blew out his candles the way he last did in his 20's.

Except this time, Anna is more alert!  And also, 1 candle represents 30 years instead of each candle representing 1 year. ;)

Surprise Birthday Party for 2

My friend Sarah and I discovered that our husbands had the same birthday.  Naturally, we planned a surprise party for them.  Our hubbies thought that they made the plan themselves to go on a double date and selected the restaurant of their choice.  Little did they know that we had much bigger plans for them!  We had several of our friends arrive to the restaurant before us.  There is some debate about how surprised Curtis was, but it was undeniable that Wesley had NO idea.  His reaction was priceless!

They both had a lot of fun!  Magda made an amazing cake revealing that Wesley and Curtis were turning 29 and 30, respectively. :)

Sarah and I even made a trivia game to determine who knew Wesley and Curtis the best.  Josiah won!

A Break From The Winter

Curtis gave me the gift of a trip to Florida when I got sick of the Indiana winter.  It was supposed to be a birthday gift, but it quickly became part of my Christmas gift as well when we realized the price.  I think it could have been a gift to my parents also, honestly.  We flew down on March 5th and stayed until March 11th.  We had a nice, relaxing week visiting them.  But we sure did miss Curtis!  Here's my dad bouncing Anna around in his new Purdue RUF shirt.

We planned a play date with several of my friends in the area.  It was really fun!  Anna was the only girl - she was with Timothy Calem, Jayson, Tripp (not pictured) and Joshua.

Anna wasn't really enjoying the swing and the sun at first.  I think she wasn't used to wearing so few clothes either!

...but she warmed up!

I couldn't have asked for a nicer day!

We took Anna to the GCS park.  This is where Curtis proposed to me and where I have a lot of childhood memories.

Anna was able to wear her cute 6 month outfit to church one last time.  She's so petite!

Grandma and Grandad had a bubble machine!

I'm not sure who delighted in it more - Anna or her grandparents. :)

Grandma took this amazing picture of Anna and I.  I just love the the bubbles were captured!

We headed to St. Augustine and went on the carousel. Grandad also came on the ride!

She now loves outside swings!  I'll have to find them around us in Indiana.

We spent a little bit of time on the beach also.

It was so refreshing to get away.  Anna and I are really looking forward to being able to explore outside when it finally warms up here!

Anna's Winter ONE-derland Party!

Everything was ready for Anna's special party.

The 12 months of pictures of Anna were hung by the fireplace.

 The icicle lights were on.

 The signs were up!

 Snowflakes were everywhere!

 Frozen blowouts were ready to be disbursed.

A 1600 picture slideshow of Anna's first year and Disney's Frozen music was continuously playing!

The balloons were in position.

 The hot cocoa bar was set up.

The snowmen-shaped pizza was ready to be eaten.

 The build-a-snowman craft was ready to be made.

 There were even examples of snowmen to help!

 All the information you'd want to know about Anna was given.

 Appetizers and cake waiting to be devoured.

Delicious, winter ONE-derland cake. (Thanks, Magda, for doing such an awesome job on it!)

But where was the birthday girl!?!  She's up stairs nervously awaiting her party to start!! :)

 Then, guests begin to arrive with gifts!  Even Grammie and Papa were able to make it!

 Anna is excited to celebrate her birthday with all her favorite people! 25 people, actually.

 She admired her gifts while Mommy and Daddy opened each one. 

 She especially loved the birthday cards she received.

 She was given books, toys, clothes, even a purse and potty.

 Caroline was excited to show her how to color on the Frozen coloring pages.

 Hannah and Elena were getting to know each other better.

 Hazel, Gideon and Caroline were ready to use the Frozen blowouts!

 Everyone got into position to watch the awaited cake eating begin!

 Anna's clothes were removed in the great expectations of a messy cake eating experience!

 Here we are just about to light the candle for the smash cake.

 It went surprisingly smooth with little mess.

 I guess our little girl doesn't like to get her hands too messy!

 The end result.

And don't worry...Daddy and Mommy finished it later! :)